Kilmarnock captain Mark Connolly ruled out for rest of the season

Kilmarnock’s survival hopes have been dealt a blow after captain Mark Connolly was ruled out for the rest of the campaign.

The defender went under the surgeon’s knife yesterday after being plagued by a hip injury since pre-season.

After delaying surgery at the time, Connolly was finally forced to admit defeat in his bid to overcome the problem following only ten games this term.

Connolly (far right) joined Killie in 2014 (Pic: Twitter)

Tweeting just before the operation yesterday, the Irishman said: “Time to get sorted! Been a long 8 months trying to play with this injury, today’s the day I get back to myself.”

After refusing to have the operation last summer having just been handed the armband, Connolly was fit enough to begin the season.

But the 24-year-old was ruled out for 12 weeks after suffering knee and ankle injuries in the game against Ross County on August 22.

The former Crawley centre-half returned for November’s goal-less draw at Celtic but his last game for the club this term came in the defeat to Aberdeen six days before Christmas.

Connolly, who aims to be fit for the start of next term, will now offer his support from the sidelines as Killie, under new manager Lee Clark, bid to lift themselves out of the relegation play-off zone.